Energy Exchange 2015 Speaker Biographies

62 Pages·2015·0.72 MB·English

Speaker Biographies
U.S. Department of Energy
Energy Exchange, August 2015
Chris Abbuehl (Constellation Energy)
Christopher Abbuehl is responsible for leading the development of energy efficiency and
renewable energy projects at Constellation Energy with a primary focus on the federal market
sector. At Constellation, he has been involved with projects involving solar, wind, geothermal,
and biomass resources. Previously, he worked in the Federal Energy Management Program as
an alternative financing specialist supporting public–private partnerships involving clean energy
projects. Prior to that, he worked in the private sector on energy efficiency and renewable
energy projects in Central and Eastern Europe as well as Asia. Christopher holds a business
degree from the University of Kansas and a law degree from American University.
Navid Ahdieh (National Renewable Energy Laboratory)
Navid Ahdieh joined National Renewable Energy Laboratory in 2010 as a project leader and is
based in Washington, DC. He supports the Federal Energy Management Program’s Federal
Fleets task, for which he works with U.S. government agencies on petroleum use and
greenhouse gas emissions reduction strategies and the deployment of alternative fuels and
advanced vehicle technologies through analysis of regulatory compliance and development of
analytical tools and training. Navid earned a master’s degree in global environmental policy
from American University in Washington, DC, and a bachelor’s degree in geography and
international politics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Kathleen Ahsing (U.S. Army)
Kathleen Ahsing serves as the director for the U.S. Army’s renewable energy programs and
business operations. She is responsible for development and execution of the Army’s privately
financed, large-scale renewable energy portfolio and for development of policies supporting
the renewable energy programs. Kathy is a professional engineer in the State of Hawaii. She is a
graduate of the University of Hawaii, Manoa, in civil engineering and holds a master’s in
resourcing national security strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.
Bob Albertini (Pepco Energy Services)
Bob Albertini manages business development efforts involving distributed energy and
combined heat and power (CHP) projects for Pepco Energy Services. He has 25 years of
experience in the utility and energy industry, developing complex energy projects on both the

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demand side and supply side. These projects include energy savings performance contracts;
utility energy service contracts; and design, build, operate, maintain (DBOM) for CHP projects,
including biogas and landfill gas applications.
Don Albinger (Johnson Controls Inc.)
As vice president of product management for Johnson Controls Inc., Don Albinger leads a global
team of product managers in the automated building management and controls market. His
team is responsible for developing and deploying state-of-the-art building controls and
management systems that drive advanced building performance. Having been with Johnson
Controls since 1984, Don’s leadership experience includes the business and technical
advancement of performance contracting, renewable energy, building automation and fire and
security control systems, and global product sales and distribution management.
Don has spoken at multiple venues for numerous organizations, owing in part to his
membership in ASHRAE, the Association of Energy Engineers, the American Council of
Renewable Energy, and the American Solar Energy Society. Don obtained a bachelor of science
in education from the University of Wisconsin at Platteville, a second bachelor of science in
mechanical engineering at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and a master’s degree in
engineering management from the same institution.
Ron Allard (U.S. General Services Administration)
Ron Allard works for the U.S. General Services Administration as the national capital region
energy branch chief and is responsible for energy and water performance for over 100 million
square feet of federal space. Previously, he worked for over 15 years as director of engineering
for a private-sector company with responsibility for office and manufacturing facilities in New
Hampshire and Maine. He also served as managing partner for an engineering consulting firm
with a focus on power plant development. Ron has an engineering degree and an MBA from
Northeastern University in Boston and is certified as a LEED® Accredited Professional, Certified
Energy Manager®, and Certified Energy Auditor (CEA™).
Jeffery Anoka (U.S. Department of Energy)
Jeff joined the U.S. Department of Energy as its director of corporate recruitment and outreach
in December 2014. Jeff started his federal career as a Student Career Experience Program
(SCEP) intern with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) as a project development specialist
in 2005. While at FTA, he also functioned as the Atlanta Region’s human resources
representative, leading initiatives around the Office’s recruitment of “hard-to-fill” positions. Jeff
has also worked for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), where he served as a
corporate outreach and recruitment program specialist; the Export-Import Bank of the United

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States, where he served as a human resources business partner; the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau, where he served as a senior human capital customer consultant; and most
recently, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, where he served as the agency’s
workforce diversity program manager. Jeff holds an MBA from the University of Maryland,
University College, and a B.A. in human resources management from Georgia State University.
Domenic Armano (FirstFuel Software)
As vice president of customer solutions, Domenic brings deep domain and operational
experience to FirstFuel customers. Prior to FirstFuel, Domenic was director of strategy and
innovation at Johnson Controls Inc., where he was responsible for the evaluation of new
technologies relevant to Johnson Controls’ businesses. Here he forged critical relationships with
entrepreneurs, universities, national laboratories, technology incubators, and venture
capitalists. In addition, he conducted due diligence of many energy technology companies,
which resulted in alliances and strategic partnerships. Before that, Domenic was a regional
engineering manager responsible for developing over $300 million in energy efficiency and
renewable projects, including the comprehensive energy efficiency retrofit at the historic
Empire State Building. Domenic holds an MBA from Boston University, an M.S. in engineering
management from Tufts University, and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of
Massachusetts. He is a licensed professional engineer.
Michael Bartlett (ABM Industries, Inc.)
Michael Bartlett is the Director, Federal Energy for ABM Industries, Inc. He is responsible for
development and implementation of federal energy projects utilizing all contract vehicles and
for all federal clients. He started his career in the US Navy as a Civil Engineer Corps Officer
performing various facility support, construction, and energy savings roles. After military
service Michael worked for several Energy Service Companies including Chevron Energy
Solutions, Johnson Controls, and Ameresco developing projects and building their sales
pipelines. Michael has personal lead the development of more than 50 energy savings projects
on federal facilities over the last 25 years.
Linda Baschnagel (U.S. General Services Administration)
Linda Baschnagel has been an energy engineer with the energy and sustainability branch of the
U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), Region 6, for three years. Previously, she was a
project manager in the design and construction division, managing multiple projects totaling
more than $50 million in the four-state region. As the lead engineer for the R6 Energy Team,
Linda provides professional engineering, technical, and programmatic support services, as well
as technical analysis integrating mechanical engineering principles, concepts, and practices into

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building management and operational practices to improve energy and water use efficiencies in
regional facilities. Prior to joining GSA, Linda worked for more than 28 years in engineering
consulting, gaining extensive experience in design, project management, master planning,
energy conservation, commissioning, and construction site management for projects of all sizes
for government, industrial, educational, medical, pharmaceutical, and commercial clients. Linda
has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Iowa State University and is a
registered professional engineer in Missouri and Kansas.
David Batz (Edison Electric Institute)
David Batz joined Edison Electric Institute (EEI) in 2009 to focus on cyber and infrastructure
security in the association’s energy delivery group. In cooperation with the U.S. Department of
Energy and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, David assists EEI member companies
with understanding and applying appropriate security solutions to address emerging cyber and
physical security threats and issues. He has provided professional technology and security
solutions and services for over 25 years; the last 10 have focused on cybersecurity issues for
utilities and critical infrastructure protection. David also assists in the development and
articulation of policy positions concerning Smart Grid.
Prior to joining EEI, David was a cybersecurity risk manager with Alliant Energy, an electric and
gas utility serving customers in Iowa and Wisconsin. During his 20-year tenure with Alliant
Energy, he performed in a variety of roles within the information technology and facility
services departments.
Loida Begley (U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security
Administration)
Loida Begley served as the sustainable buildings lead for the National Nuclear Security
Administration (NNSA) Office of Sustainability over four years. NNSA manages the nation’s
nuclear security and nuclear nonproliferation programs. In her role, she integrated sustainable
building requirements and practices into construction and operations across eight NNSA sites.
Loida received both Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in civil and
environmental engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a master of
public policy degree from the University of California, Berkeley. She is a professional engineer,
registered in California.

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Paul Birkeland (Global Strategic Energy)
Paul Birkeland is founder and principal of Global Strategic Energy, an energy strategy and
consulting firm based in Seattle, Washington. Paul is an internationally recognized expert in
strategic energy management and the ISO 50001 international standard. He has served as a
consultant for numerous strategic energy management pilot programs and has delivered
training and consulting for industry, utilities, and non-profits in the United States, Canada,
Europe, and China. Paul is one of the first ISO 50001 auditors and one of the first Certified
Practitioners in Energy Management Systems. Paul holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in engineering
and is an Association of Energy Engineers Certified Energy Manager (CEM).
Thomas Blanchard (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Tom Blanchard is a registered professional engineer with the State of Georgia and currently
serves as the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC’s) Roybal campus portfolio manager in the
asset management services office. He works on maintaining the value and program needs of
CDC’s real property assets (buildings) and planning for future facilities at the Roybal Campus
(CDC headquarters and biological laboratory facilities). Tom came to the CDC in May of 2000 as
a mechanical engineer in CDC’s facilities organization and has provided portfolio management
since 2006. Before coming to the CDC, Tom worked for 15 years as a mechanical engineer for
Lockheed Martin, performing principal facility design for the F-22, C-130, C-5, C-141, P-3, and
Jet Star programs, among others.
Jim Bochat (Commissioning Concepts)
Jim Bochat, president of Commissioning Concepts, has been involved in the Arizona engineering
and construction industry for over 40 years. His experience includes mechanical design,
mechanical construction, controls, testing and balancing, commissioning, and
retrocommissioning. Jim is a former president of the National Environmental Balancing Bureau
(NEBB), chairman of the NEBB Commissioning Committee, and an instructor for NEBB’s
commissioning and retrocommissioning programs. He is a life member of ASHRAE (American
Society of Heating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) and serves on three committees—Guideline
Project Committee 1.2 – The Commissioning Process for Existing HVAC&R Systems (formerly
GPC-30), GL1.2, and the Project Management Professional (PMP) Project Committee and
Certification—as well as chairs the ASHRAE PMP Best Practices committee. He recently served
on the ABAA Whole Building Air Tightness Committee. A NEBB-certified professional since 1974,
he has co-authored several standards regarding commissioning for NEBB, ASHRAE, and ABAA.
Jim was presented the George B. Hightower Award for his distinguished service to NEBB at the
2010 NEBB Annual meeting. The George B. Hightower Award is NEBB’s most prestigious honor

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and is presented periodically to people who have made special contributions to NEBB’s success.
A native of Arizona, Jim studied mechanical engineering at Arizona State University.
Brian Boyd (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
Brian Boyd is a research engineer with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, specializing in
water resource management and energy efficiency. Some of his work experience includes
development of strategic plans for water management at federal sites, technology
demonstration and technology evaluation, energy and efficiency analysis, plant reliability, and
environmental and resource sustainability analysis. Brian has served as technical lead and
technical contributor working with the Federal Energy Management Program, the Sustainability
Performance Office, the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army, the Army Office
of Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management, the U.S. Army Installation Management
Command, and the Building Technologies Program Commercial Building Integration Sub-
Program.
Kate Brandt (The White House Council on Environmental Quality)
As the federal chief sustainability officer, Kate Brandt is responsible for promoting sustainability
across federal government operations including 360,000 buildings, 650,000 vehicles, and
$445 billion annually in purchased goods and services. Prior to her appointment, Kate served as
a senior advisor at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of the Under Secretary for Science
and Energy, where she played a key role in establishing the office and executing the President's
Climate Action Plan. Kate received a master’s degree in international relations from the
University of Cambridge, where she was a Gates Cambridge Scholar. She graduated with honors
from Brown University.
Wendell C. Brase (University of California, Irvine)
Wendell Brase is vice chancellor for administrative and business services at the University of
California (UC), Irvine. With 31 years of experience in the UC system (13 years at UC Santa Cruz
and 18 years at Irvine), he is responsible for UC Irvine’s administrative, financial, and business
services. Wendell is a member of the sustainability advisory panel for the National Association
of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) and is chair of UC’s Climate Solutions
Steering Group.
UC Irvine’s administrative and business services division has been cited with 11 national awards
for process improvement, innovation, and administrative streamlining, including first prize in
NACUBO’s Higher Education Awards Program (1996), CAUSE’s Best Practices Award (1997), the
USA Today Quality Cup Award (1998), and the EDUCAUSE Award for Excellence in
Administrative Information Systems (2004).

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Tom Broderick (U.S. Department of Energy)
Tom has been with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Intermountain Clean Energy Application
Center since 2006. His focus has been on the technical assistance function. Prior to that, he
worked for gas and electric utilities for 17 years in Arizona and Pennsylvania in marketing,
technical assistance, customer outreach, and market development. He also worked for Owens-
Corning Fiberglas in research and product development, where he published three papers and
developed a patented product. Tom received a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from
the University of Massachusetts, and he is a Certified Energy Manager® through the Association
of Energy Engineers.
Nicole Bulgarino (Ameresco)
Nicole Bulgarino is the senior vice president and general manager of federal solutions for
Ameresco, a leading energy efficiency and renewable energy company. She is responsible for
the overall management of Ameresco’s dedicated business unit serving federal government
customers. She has nearly 20 years of experience in developing and executing energy efficiency
and renewable energy solutions.
Nicole has overseen the implementation of over $700 million in federal energy projects. She
serves as the company representative for federal energy savings performance contracts and
federal agreements for renewable energy. She also oversees the development and operation of
energy efficiency projects and energy systems involving biomass, combined heat and power,
digester gas, distributed generation, geothermal energy, landfill gas, microgrids and energy
storage, and solar and wind technologies. Nicole is experienced in the design and development
of demand-side energy efficiency projects, including deep energy retrofits. She has served as
the lead engineer for the development, design, and start-up of many energy savings
performance contract (ESPC) projects, including the U.S. Department of Energy Savannah River
Site Biomass Cogeneration Facility—the largest federal biomass facility constructed under the
largest renewable ESPC.
Nicole earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of
Tennessee. She is a licensed professional engineer and obtained an executive management and
leadership certificate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Lara Buluç (U.S. Forest Service)
Lara Buluç has served as the sustainable operations/climate change coordinator with the
U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Region 5, in Vallejo, California, since August 2011. In this role, she
oversees sustainable operations and climate change programs at California's 18 national
forests. Hired as a presidential management fellow, Lara has supported sustainable operations
assignments across the agency from the Washington Office to the Shasta–Trinity National
Forest. During a detail to the Washington Office, Lara led the agency's first comprehensive
greenhouse gas inventory per Executive Order 13514.
Lara holds a dual B.S. in biology and ecosystem science and policy from the University of Miami,
Florida, and a master's degree in corporate environmental management and political economy
of the environment from the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at the
University of California, Santa Barbara.
Saralyn Bunch (U.S. Department of Energy)
Saralyn Bunch is a technical project lead for the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP),
where she is responsible for metering and data management, water management, energy
efficient lighting and controls, and energy efficient product procurement. She joined FEMP in
2013, bringing over 35 years of management, engineering, and construction experience. Prior
to joining FEMP, she was responsible for the design of non-nuclear facilities and infrastructure
to support the license application for the nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain. Saralyn earned
her B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and her M.S. in engineering from
The Catholic University of America.
Andrew Burr (U.S. Department of Energy)
Andrew Burr is a fellow with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office,
where he works on urban strategy and building technologies deployment. He was previously
director of policy at the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT), where he advised cities on
energy efficiency policy and political strategy. While at IMT, he helped launch the City Energy
Project, a $10 million joint initiative with the Natural Resources Defense Council and the
mayors of 10 American cities. Andrew previously served as an advisor to the Innovation Fund of
the Urban Sustainability Directors Network. He has been quoted by national media including
The New York Times, USA Today, and Governing Magazine, and he has presented on U.S.
energy policy in China and Europe.

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Mike Bushey (Southern California Edison)
Mike Bushey manages the Government, Institutions, Agriculture and Water Segment at
Southern California Edison. His responsibilities include the management team and staff that
serve all federal customers, state customers, cities, counties, schools, colleges, universities,
water districts, and agriculture customers within SCE’s 50,000-square-mile service territory.
Mike is a seasoned leader with over 25 years of utility and energy industry experience. He has
held numerous individual contributor roles in account management, sales, and project
management and many leadership roles in customer service operations and strategic customer
accounts divisions. Each role had increasing responsibility, influence, and demonstrated results
to operating unit goals and the company performance.
Mike holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Arizona State University and a Master of Business
Administration degree from the University of California, Irvine.
Natasha Campbell (U.S. Department of Energy)
Natasha Campbell joined the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as a senior advisor on industrial
relations and economic and workforce development in July 2014. Prior to her appointment, she
served as the director for labor relations and collective bargaining for the District of Columbia
government. In that capacity, she had responsibility for administering the comprehensive labor
relations and collective bargaining program, inclusive of approximately 25,000 bargaining unit
employees and 33 bargaining units. Her responsibilities included negotiations, mediation,
arbitrations, litigation, representation petitions, and negotiability appeals. Since joining DOE,
Natasha has played a key role in supporting the Energy Jobs Strategy Council, which seeks to
accelerate the growth of and access to jobs in all sectors of the United States energy economy
while meeting the goals of the Administration’s Climate Action Plan. The Council also seeks to
ensure that jobs being created in the energy, manufacturing, and STEM sectors build stronger,
more inclusive communities. Utilizing DOE’s convening authority, Ms. Campbell facilitates
stakeholder engagement with workforce development systems; non-profit organizations; state,
local, and regional governments; economic development planners; industry; the unemployed;
and disadvantaged communities.
Cara Carmichael (Rocky Mountain Institute)
Cara’s background in both architecture and engineering has served as the cross-disciplinary
foundation for her passion of working on strategic energy design and master planning in
buildings and portfolios. Cara helped shape the strategic creation and operation of the RetroFit
Initiative within the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI). She led the content development and
launch of the RetroFit Depot, an online industry resource about deep retrofits that provides

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information about benefits, processes, case studies, and tools to prove the economic viability of
deep commercial building retrofits. Cara continues to lead an effort focused on implementing a
deep retrofit business model within energy service companies and targeted architectural,
engineering, and consulting firms. Coupled with her ability to create high-level net zero energy
masterplans and deep retrofit value propositions, she enjoys working at a tangible project level
to apply integrative design solutions and turn theory into practice on actual projects.
Currently, Cara is leading RMI’s efforts to design a new, next-generation deep green
headquarters for RMI in Basalt, Colorado. She is applying integrated project delivery and
quantifying some of the value beyond energy cost savings the building will provide to create a
replicable process and financial model for other small building owners to follow. Other recent
projects include Ford’s Green Dealership program and the General Services Administration’s
Net Zero Renovation Challenge. Cara is also working with a global healthcare company to create
a net zero energy roadmap for one of the company’s research and development campuses
based on the principles of aggressive efficiency and finding the most cost-effective balance
point between energy efficiency and onsite renewable energy generation.
Mike Case (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)
Michael Case is a program manager at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development
Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL). His portfolio includes the
Net Zero Planner research program, creating new ways to plan effectively for reduced energy,
water, and solid waste usage on defense installations and in other types of small communities.
Michael also manages the Automated Construction of Expeditionary Structures program,
developing the U.S. Army’s capability to print custom-designed expeditionary structures on
demand, in the field, using locally available materials. Past projects include the Corps’ building
information modeling (BIM) roadmap, the Land use Evolution and Impact Assessment Model
(LEAM), the Sustainable Installation Regional Resources Assessment website, the Defense
Environmental Information eXchange network (DENIX), the Design Review and Checking System
(DrChecks), and the Sustainable Project Rating Tool (SPiRiT).
Michael holds doctoral and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from Cornell
University.
Ariel Castillo (U.S. Department of Defense)
Ariel Castillo currently serves as a business and technical manager for the Office of the Assistant
Secretary of Defense, Energy, Installations, and Environment. He manages and oversees energy
resilience efforts for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). He is also directly responsible for

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